“American Guns” Star Convicted On All Ten Felony Counts

A federal jury has convicted a Wheat Ridge gun dealer who became a Discovery Channel reality TV star on 10 felony counts related to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion.

Richard Wyatt, 53, of Evergreen, was taken into custody immediately following thevguilty verdict in Denver U.S. District Court Friday afternoon and awaits sentencing at a later date. Wyatt faces up to 15 years in a federal prison, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer.

The jury was hung on three charges of illegal importing of weapons.

The jury found Wyatt guilty of failing to report $1.1 million in income to the IRS, conspiracy and dealing firearms without a license.

ATF agents seized 583 guns and ammunition from his Gunsmoke store on March 31, 2015.

Wyatt had entered an agreement with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to relinquish his federal firearms license in 2009.

Even without a gun license he was able to negotiate a lucrative contract with the Discovery Channel that would eventually pay him about $500,000 in 2011 and 2012 to star in “American Guns,” which revolved around activities at his Wheat Ridge shop, Gunsmoke Guns.

Bob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com.
Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines. He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training, and is the author of the short e-book, So You Want to Own a Gun.
He can be found on Twitter at bob_owens.
https://bearingarms.com/author/bobowens-bearingarms/